End-Game 'Boss Bounties NPC' Feature & Bounty Tokens!

Like special End-Game Maps, these End-Game Bounties would be an alternative, interesting way of getting good Loot, however, at the cost of a FEE using Bounty Tokens.

NOTE: This does not replace maps as it's focused on very hard Bosses only, not spews of enemies.

Things That Will Be Covered:

Bounty Tokens (NEW Stackable Item) / the Bounty NPC / Boss Bounty Placements & Their Difficulty / Dedicated Bounty NPC Details & Interface / Random Given Bounty Rewards / Boss Bounty Levels per Bounty Row / and Bounty Token Fees!

This question will be covered as well, "But What if Players try participating in a Boss Bounty they have not yet slain when partying with players?"

Your thoughts are welcome. This is just a blueprint of what I think is a groundbreaking idea for Path of Exile.

Boss Bounties, an End-Game Feature Only for Each Difficulty:

When a difficulty is beaten, Normal, Cruel or Merciless, players are notified with a message (only once per New Character) saying, “The NPC for Boss Bounties in town will now give Bounties.”

Otherwise, players speaking to the Boss Bounty NPC before then would give New Players a message saying something like, “Sorry, warrior, but you must complete this Difficulty first before Bounties are available.” Or however you guys (developers) want to go about that.

Boss Bounty Tokens (NEW Stackable Item)

Boss Bounty Tokens would only drop from enemies or become available to players when they beat the difficulty they’re in be it Normal, Cruel or Merciless. The drop rate of these can be adjusted.

They would be tradable to New Players, but New Players cannot use them until Bounties become available to them when they beat the difficulty they’re in.

More will be detailed on the use of these Tokens further on . . .

Dedicated Boss Bounty NPC:

As talked about in the above, there would need to be an NPC dedicated to the Boss Bounties Feature. This NPC would be the guy who gives players Bounties and Bounty Rewards for slaying these special Bosses as an End-Game feature. (Rewards will be covered further below)

Boss Bounty Placements & Their Difficulty:

These bosses would be spread out in random areas of a given area in each difficulty, telling you to find a certain Boss within that area. They can be anywhere. Epic, distinct music can also be implemented when facing these special Bosses.

These bosses would also be extra hard than the game's default Bosses or main Bosses for people who want a real challenge and are very hard to solo. There can either be the same Bosses (more boring) OR there can be different Bosses in these Boss Bounties for each difficulty when that difficulty is beaten.

Random Reward Values and Bounty NPC Interface Details:

Much like a Vendor when buying from or selling to them, when talking to the Bounty NPC (only when a player has beaten the difficulty they’re in) the Option ‘Boss Bounties’ becomes available and the Bounty NPC will act as an actual Vendor, for Bosses, not for items!

When players click the ‘Boss Bounties’ Option, there would be Head Icons for each one of these special Bosses in this End-Game Feature. However, each Boss costs a small FEE to face them.

When players pay up, that Boss becomes available to beat in a given area. The area can be a fixed area every time, or a random area every time in whatever Act of the Difficulty they're in.

Fees would be based off Boss Levels per Bounty Row, which brings us to our next topic . . .

Bounty Rewards / Boss Bounty Levels per Row In NPC Interface / Bounty Token Fees:

This is where Bounty Tokens get put to use!

For Normal Difficulty (Boss Bounty Levels)

Levels are adjustable! So is this idea. This is just a blueprint . . .

Levels:
30 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row
35 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row
40 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row
45 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row

NOTE: If the developers wanted to put just 1 Boss per row for a start, that would fine, just to see if players like this idea or not. However, later on players may want more than just 1 Boss for each row. That's why I put 3 Bosses per Bounty Row as a fair number, at least that.

While the same level in each Bounty Row, each Boss would look different, act and be entirely different in each difficulty so it doesn't seem like a total repeat of the same Bosses faced before from previous difficulties, except at a higher level.

I know that won't go over well. Differentiation between Bosses in Bounties would be more interesting than said repeated ones of the same Boss again.

For Cruel Difficulty (Boss Bounty Levels)

Levels:
50 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row
55 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row
60 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row
65 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row

For Merciless Difficulty (Boss Bounty Levels)

Levels:
70 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row
80 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row
90 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row
100 (3 different Bosses in this Row) Fee = [x # of Bounty Tokens] for this Row

This would be a ‘progressive’ in-game feature in that players cannot just face whatever Boss they want in any Bounty Row right away. Players will have to start from the first Boss in the first Bounty Row and conquer all Bosses in that Bounty Row in order before they can take on any other Bosses in the other bounty rows. Otherwise, players have to work on beating the Boss Bounty they’re currently on.

The reason this would need to be a 'progressive' system is because if you everyone high level is given the option to face the last, ultimate Boss, that's all people will face, taking out all the fun!

Already-slain Bosses in bounties can be faced again. Ultimately, players are going to want to move forward with their bounties, not always backwards, unless they're helping a friend or another random player to help conquer a Boss.

"But What if Players try participating in a Boss Bounty they have not yet slain when partying with players?"

A game message would then be sent in Blue Party text, "One or more players in your party cannot participate in this battle because he / she has not yet slain this Boss."

Therefore, players can only participate with people who are working on slaying the bounty they are currently on. They won't be able to face the highest level Boss. That wouldn't make sense.

BOUNTY REWARDS:

Much like regular NPCs do now after completing Quests, sometimes giving you a choice of items to choose from out of 3 items, the Bounty NPC would give you 3 RANDOM Rewards to choose from after players complete their Bounty. It could be a Gem of whatever kind, an Orb of whatever kind, or a piece of Equipment.

For example:

I just got done completing a Bounty. My rewards I see are: 1 Chaos and 2 pieces of equipment: a pair of boots and a heap piece. I would have to choose one as my reward or whatever one is the best to choose from out of the 3 items.

However, you would want to be sure to make it so the Bounty NPC gives relevant items from each difficulty. You wouldn’t want him giving players something that would otherwise be found in Normal Difficulty. That would be silly!



Thank You for reviewing.
HeavyMetalGear